Notes on Moneyball

As the ship long ago sailed on Oscar nominations, I won't go too deep into what I (cough) totally would have predicted correctly, and say that I really liked the movie. John didn't care for it as much, I don't think, but I think he has a more traditional/sentimental movie preference and this has a bit of a 70s movie feel where the protagonist never wins, even when he/she wins.

Best Picture, Best Actor (for Brad Pitt, who actually is a nominated producer for the film's Best Picture nomination) and Best Adapted Screenplay were pretty strong locks, and I don't know if I would have characterized Jonah Hill's performance as anything more than a dark horse at getting a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The most surprising nomination, and the one I'm most pleased with, is for the movie's sound. Since silence is a big part of the movie's sound I don't know that I would have expected a nomination; 25 years ago(ish) I remember a rebuttal to the complaint that Fatal Attraction didn't win for Best Film Editing as the award is for best editing, not the most editing, and that applies here. While silence is used for tension plenty, here it has a different mood: it's about the outcome, not the anticipation of it.

If I have a complaint, it's simply this: NOT NEARLY ENOUGH GRATUITOUS MALE NUDITY. They're athletes, they are in a locker room, and yet there wasn't a single jock-strapped male ass to be seen. That's a substantial failure from my perspective.

I don't think it will win any of its 6 nominations, although Best Adapted Screenplay is probably its best shot (I think The Descendants has that locked up). Anyway, one of my favorites of 2011, but then I've seen like 7 movies from 2011.

If you don't count porn.